Nigerian doctors are mourning yet another avoidable tragedy. This time, the death of Dr. Oluwafemi Rotifa, a young resident doctor at Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, RSUTH, who reportedly collapsed and died after a gruelling 72-hour call duty.
Vanguard gathered that the late doctor, fondly called Femoski by colleagues, was a former President of the Port Harcourt University Medical Students’ Association, PUMSA, and was registered with the United Kingdom’s General Medical Council, awaiting placement abroad.
According to eyewitness accounts, Rotifa had been on continuous call duty for three days in the Emergency Room before retreating to the call room to rest.
It was there that he slumped and later died, despite efforts to resuscitate him in the Intensive Care Unit.
Confirming the development to, the President of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, Dr. Tope Osundara, described the incident as both preventable and a damning reflection of Nigeria’s collapsing health system.
“What happened is that he was on call in the Emergency Room. Afterwards, he went to the call room to rest, and it was there that he died. Unfortunately, he was the only one attending to the patients.
“The overuse of manpower strained his health and led to this painful death. It was a death on duty,” Osundara lamented.
He called on the government to urgently support the family of the deceased and overhaul the system that continues to push doctors to exhaustion.
“The burnout among medical doctors, especially resident doctors who are manning most of the teaching hospitals, is becoming very worrisome.
“We have cried out repeatedly. The few doctors left in this country are overworked, underpaid and poorly motivated.
“Government must look into remuneration and ensure immediate replacement of doctors who resign or emigrate.
Otherwise, this cycle of needless deaths will continue,” he added.
He said Nigeria’s health sector has in recent years been hit by a massive brain drain, with thousands of doctors leaving for better opportunities abroad, adding that those who remain are stretched thin, often forced to cover double or triple shifts without rest.
Osundara warned that the consequences extend beyond doctors themselves.
“We are not asking for these reforms just for our own welfare, but for the patients. When a doctor is mentally, physically and emotionally broken, he cannot render quality care.
“Patients end up spending unnecessary hours in hospitals, waiting for one doctor to attend to thousands. It is the patients who ultimately suffer the most,” he said.
He stressed the need for government at all levels to urgently address staff shortages, improve welfare packages and enforce humane work schedules for doctors.
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